4GB of ram?

256mb GPU?

Is that even enough to run sketchup?

Top right of the screen, look for the search function and find dozens of identical questions.

My only real suggestion is to go for the 17" laptops with calculators on the keyboard. Easier for CAD plus the larger size allows for better GPU and cooling.

I'm sure that these are bare minima. I'm just not sure how to go about buying one. Is there a website where I can put in all of my specifications and search?

http://www.newegg.com/

minimums:

Intel i5

16GB + RAM

Dedicated Graphics Card

SSD

anything else is superfluous.

What is SSD?

I have never done this before! Very confusing. When they ask what my primary purpose for my computer is, should I list gaming? Or is there a better option?

Solid-State-Drive

Oh I see

^ Start looking at Asus ROG 17.3" laptops and work your way from there.

or consider pcpartpicker.com  if you know what all the pieces do... which probably won't help you.

What am I exactly supposed to look at it for to work my way from there? Just if it has all of the features they recommend? Also, it doesn't say anything about Windows 10 in the specifications; it only mentions Windows 8. Is Windows 10 also good?

You are going to have a hell of a time in college if you type and speak as poorly as your archinect posts suggest.

You may also need to research options and make decisions by yourself, not only in school, but for the remainder of your life. To that end, I'd suggest searching the Archinect forums and using one of the many PC buying guides available online. If there are specific pieces of software that you know you will be using (provided/ suggested by the architecture faculty) you can look up the minimum hardware requirements to run them.

Thanks for your helpful comment! I didnt realize that perfect grammar was a necessity for social media posts!

Non Sequitur, do you think that the ASUS ROG would be good for what I need, or is it overkill?

Waffleman, you need to do the research on what you'll expect to use within the first 2-3 years. How about you give your future school a call and speak to the AV guys or even first year studio coordinators?

Second, if you don't know the value of RAM, GPU, or even SSD... you're doomed to waste your money if you dont take the time to educate yourself first. The links I sent you have plenty of options for all budgets. BTW, the specs you listed above are worst than the laptop I had 10-years ago.

Overkill is better than under-kill. Laptops are hard to upgrade

Non Sequitur, those specs are taken directly from a PDF that WashU sent containing recommended hardware specifications. I copied those verbatim from their PDF. The specifications ARE listed as "the minimum specifications for both types of computers [Mac and PC]"

I understand

Do you have better spec recommendations? It says that those "are the specifications as of June 1, 2016"

Got $2000? Get this and be done with it. Happy with mine.

If you're not a computer person, buy one ASAP and start learning the adobe suite and a modeling program (sketchup, at the very least) before school starts. You don't want to be wasting time figuring out commands when studio projects are due.

I have used SketchUp and Blender. I am just not familiar with the world of buying computers since I have always gone the Mac route and been happy. 

Sorry, I didn't read carefully enough. You probably won't need adobe suite and modeling program right off the bat if you're an undergrad. You'd be ahead if you got a start on them, though.

Anonitect, WashU also provided a list of recommended software that my computer should be able to run, and it is as follows:

The entire Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InDesign CC, Dreamweaver CC, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Acrobat XI Pro, Adobe Muse CC, Adobe Audition CC, Bridge CC, Edge Tools & Services, Encore, Fireworks, Flash Builder Premium, Flash Professional CC, InCopy CC, Lightroom, Media Encoder CC, Prelude CC, and SpeedGrade CC)

Robert McNeel Rhino 5.0

V-Ray 2.0 for Rhino

AutoCAD 

Microsoft Office Suite

All of those programs, I think, will have system requirements and recommendations on their websites. For instance, here's Rhino's. Already the minimum system suggested by your school falls short.

You won't use most of those Adobe programs.

Worth repeating:

Intel i5

16GB + RAM

Dedicated Graphics Card

SSD

Specs that work best for the programs you'll use in design school are similar enough to gaming that I recommend people just look at gaming machines.

Also, I don't know if it'll save you money but you'll only use Adobe Photoshop Illustrator and InDesign. Maybe Acrobat too.

Thank you everyone! Yeah duds, I am mainly looking into gaming computers for that reason. I emailed the folks at newegg, and they said they would get back to me in a day or two

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade

Stellar reviews, $2000.

Spoons, that one is looking great right now. Not sure how worthwhile a 2000 dollar investment is, but definitely considering it

EDIT: Upon closer inspection, the screen is only 14", which is smaller than the 15" specification :/

I spent 1100$ on my computer and it got me through undergrad. I did however had to replace the HDD to an SSD and upgrade my ram from 8GB to 16GB. Its still good to this day.. though the case may be cracking...

My advice, you need a minimum of 8GB RAM (Minimum). My workplace is 12GB and its so damn slow. My laptop after upgrading is 16GB and is sufficient until you get intensive into revit/3dsmax, my desktop is 32GB. The minimum requirement for revit is 8GB

Screw HDD.. i don't trust those... lost my work enough times. My advice, spend that money and get 1/2 TB SSD and then buy a cloud storage account if you have to, store everything on cloud/google drive. ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN LOSING YOUR WORK BEFORE DEADLINES. BEFORE DEADLINES SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY TIME YOU LOSE YOUR FILES. I guess long hours and all nighters kill computers...

My CPU for my laptop is i7 2.4ghz...My desktop is 8 core overclocked to 4.5ghz.

Take in my laptop specs are 4 years old. so they may be inferior nowadays...

My advice, do not spend more than 1.2k on your laptop (before taxes). If you are spending at the 2k range... my advice is to just buy a dam desktop (which is also what i did). 2k range laptops are excessive, heavy, and inferior.

Check cornel laptop recommendation 2016 Or buy a lastest gaming laptop

Oh my, Minimal, 8-core-k @ 4.5? Hopefully there is an equally serious GPU in there too. I considered an 8-core cpu a few months back but choose an i7-quad, overclocked @ 4.6.

Waffleman, current 17" gaming laptops  should suffice since most likely they all will have a dedicated high-end GPU and i7 6000-series CPU. Look for models that can expand RAM to 32gb. It's unlikely you'll need more that 16 for a while, but you don't want to be stuck with a rig with only 2 RAM slots. The rogue models I linked earlier would all be decent choices (I almost bought one 4 months ago, but built a PC tower instead).

But to echo Minimal's point above, it's easy to surpass $2K for laptops. I've found great bang for buck at the $1250 to $1500 range.

How important is it to have a 15"+ screen? The Cornell AAP guidelines do not contain a screen size recommendation, but the WashU ones recommend 15"+? I was looking at one that is 14"...

CAD and modelling are easier on larger screens but, from my experience, larger screens allow for more room in the laptop body for better GPUs and heat-sink/fans. 

You emailed the folks at newegg? What are you 60?

Apparently

god damnit. this is why NewEgg prices keep going up when all i want is a stick of RAM or a new drive. I'll shit a twinkie if they actually e-mail you back.

It's ok if not because I think I found the laptop for me anyways. 

AAP supplies screens, hence the lack of specification. 

Here's a old one but still good

Link

How does the 14" Razer Blade look? http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade

I have a razor blade and it's amazing for school. You'll need all the power it has to offer and be super satisfied with it, especially when you get into the higher year. However, it does get reAlly hot, so you want to get a cooling pad to keep it cool as you work on it. The screen size is big enough, you don't need to go 17" or you gonna hate yourself for getting a laptop that big. I usually have a second monitor that I plug into my laptop, which is even better. If the razer is too expensive, look into MSI gaming laptop. DO NOT GET anything lower than a i5. The higher you get into the program, you'll find yourself needing more and more speed and power for 3D modeling, rendering, and drawings. Good luck dude. Don't waste money on Mac. 

Dude the guidelines doesn't matter, especially when it's about 15" screen. They not gonna come and measure your screen. 14" razer is perfect if you love the laptop and want to spend that money. Just so you know tho, nothing is upgradable in the razor. Like I said, spend an extra 100 on a second monitor, and that is much more efficient than a 17" and your classmates will be jealous of your setup. LOL

Lenovo P70 or P50 might be good options:

i7 or Xeon processor

SSD and M.2 MSATA SSD

4 slots of RAM memory slots for future expansion

Quadro Workstation graphics card (can choose from 1100m-4100m)

if you get 4k screen, it has 95% color gamut that can render very accurate color (good for adobe suties). 

It is super sturdy too.

Actually, I am still using older model of Lenovo P50, W520 for 5 years now.

It runs all the program OP mentioned and It can easily run multiple programs at the same time. It struggles with heavy Revit models, but i am sure this would be the case for any laptop.

I want to upgrade to P50 but don't really have a good reason for it.. My W520 still runs fine and i use lesser and lesser programs as I get older in my career. 

Thanks everyone!! 

HeyImNew: Im not sure if dropping 2000 on a laptop, in addition to the 450 for software first year is a good idea. still mulling it over

Stasis: The P50 + P70 look pretty good!!

Good Day everyone, i am looking for a Laptop for my Masters in Architecture and Professional work, a laptop that i will use for the next 5 years if i can.

please feel free to provide any feedback or information that could be helpful. 

my main concern is for the laptop to not lag or to take longer time to process things than a desktop. 

Programs expecting to be used: 

Rhino + grasshopper - modeling (algorithmic calculations)

Autodesk - CAD, Revit, Maya, MAX - rendering

Adobe Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator, ect.  

Lumion - animations

i recently purchased a Mobile Precision 7510 XCTO BASE, with following specs

Intel® Core™ i7-6920HQ (Quad Core 2.90GHz, 3.80GHz Turbo, 8MB 45W, w/Intel HD Graphics 530)

346-BBRH1Smartcard Reader

490-BCPK1Nvidia® Quadro® M2000M w/4GB GDDR5

391-BCFI115.6" UltraSharp™ FHD IPS Touch (1920x1080) Wide View LED-backlit, camera and microphone

370-ACSV132GB, DDR4-2133MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS, Non-ECC

400-AFGV1512GB 2.5 inch SATA Class 20 Solid State Drive

some problem dell had with Windows and their software not being compatible with the hardware.but as i received the laptop, the mouse-pad kept freezing and lagging, this was a concern i had and had to troubleshoot the laptop and eventually send it back, the problem is that the laptop software was not install properly and the hardware was faulty. 

is there another laptop that is similar or better than this one 

thank you for your time everyone.

Best

Daniel